The present invention relates to a durable and adjustable patient support device with shoulder depression device for repeatably positioning a patient for treatment. The patient support device of the present invention has several applications where immobility of the head and neck is required and an unobstructed 360-degree treatment is desired. The present invention is uniquely adjustable and is capable of repeatably positioning a patient by immobilizing the patient's head, neck, shoulders and torso.
A major application of the present invention can be for patients in treatment settings who require radiation treatment of cancer within the brain and neck. When a high energy beam is used for irradiation of the tumor, it is critical that the beam destroys the tumor but not the surrounding healthy tissue. In order to accomplish this objective with acceptable precision, it is critical that the head and neck be maintained in a precise and fixed position with no possibility of movement.
Reproducible immobilization is essential to a tighter and more conformed treatment field. By precisely positioning and repositioning a patient, a high-energy beam can be repeatably applied to a tumor. This allows for a higher dose of radiation to the gross tumor volume without affecting healthy tissue.
There are immobilization devices on the market today with various deficiencies and shortcomings. Such deficiencies include incompatibility with available accessories or tables, an inability to cantilever out from a treatment table, as well as an inability to accurately and repeatably immobilize the head, neck, shoulders and torso. In addition, several patient positioning devices are not sufficiently radiolucent.
Radiolucency is highly desirable and can provide tremendous benefit to a patient. For example, several patient positioning devices contain metallic parts. In radiation therapy, metallic parts are not desirable, especially if they are in the treatment field. Metallic parts can cause increased elastic and inelastic radiation scattering as well as fluorescence which can expose the patient to unnecessary radiation. While the use of metals can cause unwanted radiation exposure, they can also reduce the desired radiation dose that reaches the target area due to their high radiation absorption compared to polymer and carbon fiber composites used in the present invention.
Some positioning devices are constructed of acrylic which provide a lower strength to attenuation ratio than those constructed of carbon fiber composites. In addition, some positioning devices do not cantilever out over a treatment table thereby allowing an unobstructed 360-degree treatment of the head and neck. Furthermore, there are no commercial devices available that include shoulder depression devices for restricting a patient's movement or torso positioning devices for immobilizing the torso. The only shoulder depression devices currently available include the use of fabric straps. The straps can be imprecisely adjusted to restrict the patient's movement. However, the straps are cumbersome to use, do not sufficiently immobilize the patient and cannot accurately and repeatably position the patient. Finally, there are no commercially available devices that cantilever off the treatment table and incorporate an angling head immobilization device.
The present invention overcomes these deficiencies provides a durable patient support device for immobilizing a patient and allows precise, efficient and repeatable adjustability in a light weight carbon fiber composite that is radiolucent.